Kagerou
by AesaDahl
Summary: A girl brought up with L suddenly reappears in his life and offers her help in catching "Kira". Rated M for language, and explicit scenes/chapters.
1. Shinigami Toshiko

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DEATH NOTE NOR DO I OWN ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS. HOWEVER THE CHARACTER OF SHINIGAMI TOSHIKO DOES BELONG TO ME, AND IF YOU ASK VERY (and I mean very very very) NICELY, I MIGHT LET YOU BORROW HER.

Name: Shinigami Toshiko or in English Toshiko Shinigami

Name means: Toshiko: alert child

Shinigami: God of Death

Nicknames: Toshi, Shini

Aliases: Senjo (fairy), Hotaru (Firefly), Kagerou (Dragonfly)

Years: 2003-2005

Age: 21

Gender: female

Species: Human

Date of birth: November 28, 1983

Occupation: Detective, assassin

Title: fourth best detective, second best assassin

Blood Type: AB

Nationality: half Japanese, quarter Irish, quarter Spanish

Personality: Toshi's personality changes at any given moment as she is an actress and is always in character. Hyper, but calm about it. Toshi is usually quiet and listens, but when she knows someone is being an idiot, she corrects them without a second thought. Sharp, intuitive, but pessimistic, Toshi has no fear of death, or of "Kira". Acts without a thought, and hides her feelings for L.

Appearance: shoulder length, silky looking red hair with short bangs, steel blue, sharp eyes, 5 foot 6, 110 lbs. Toshi wears a short black skirt, black tank top, a long sleeveless black and red sweater with matching arm warmers, black running sandals and gray brown gloves that conceal(and cushion) brass knuckles.

Characteristics: Seeing as she grew up with him in the orphanage, Toshi has many of the same quirks about her as L. Instead of sitting properly like other people, Toshi prefers to crouch, but for a slightly different reason. L crouches because he believes that his analyzing capabilities are deduced by 40 percent if he sits properly. Toshi prefers to crouch because she finds it easier to dodge something. They both also prefer to only eat sweets such as candy and sweet fruits. Toshi also really enjoys salty foods, and is continuously munching on potato chips. She has an extremely high metabolism and, like L, believes that weight gain can be prevented if the majority of a persons calorie intake is used by the brain. Thus far it has worked for her.

Past: Toshi had an odd upbringing before she was taken to the orphanage. An old legend from her fathers clan, the Shinigami clan, was that any female child died at birth, but if the female child survived, the mother died during childbirth. It was true that it usually happened, but Toshi's mother didn't die. She survived until Toshi was two and a half years old, when she and her husband were killed by a drunk driver. At age 6, her grandparents, believing the child to be mentally disturbed, decidedly disowned her and sent her to an orphanage, known as Wammy's House. There she met L Lawliet and Watari. Watari noticed that though she seemed like a somewhat normal, if not extremely intelligent child, she also seemed to be afraid of losing L, but at the same time wanting to push him away and not letting him get any closer. After closer inspection of her odd, slightly eccentric behavior over the years that she's at the orphanage, he concludes that she has separation issues that were probably caused from losing her parents and then losing her grandparents and everyone she ever cared about as a young child. The only stability in her life was in the orphanage when she was with L. Watari feared what would happen to her seemingly fragile mind if L disappeared from her life, so he decided to try and keep them near each other, for all Toshi's fear and love of L. When Toshi was ten, Watari also noticed her quickness to pick up what others were thinking and was able to adapt quickly to any given situation and he began to train her to act, believing that with that she could be useful to L, who was training to be a Detective. At the same time, Toshi had been able to get lessons for the martial arts from a world renowned teacher. She was his best student before he allowed Toshi to kill him instead of him dying of cancer as her final test at age twelve. Neither Watari nor L knew anything of this. After her sensei's death, Toshi became more withdrawn from L and the other children at the orphanage and began to openly train, often challenging other, often older kids, to fight her, and see if they could defeat her. Everyone she challenged lost. When L challenged her, at first she was frightened because she didn't want to hurt him, then decided that she couldn't allow her feelings to get in the way of what she was, and accepted the challenge. She lost. Watari, seeing this, asked L to train with her, to spar, in hopes of curbing her sudden violent anger. He also made her study with L, do everything the same as L, plus he began training her to use weapons such as knives, swords, guns, throwing stars and her body. On top of all this, he made her continue to act. He never knew where she found the time to do anything else, like track a man from the Meguro district in Tokyo to the Shitamachi district and kill him at the age sixteen. Because of Toshi's affinity to acting, she began to pretend everything was a play and wasn't actually real at the age of seventeen. Doing this helped her cope with what she was doing. L was the first to realize this, but only because the way she looked at him was suddenly different, and there was a pained, disturbed look in her eyes. When he confronted her about it, she told him that if she didn't act like it wasn't happening, she'd break. Knowing that she wasn't brought up like a fragile porcelain doll, he forced her to believe that what she was doing was real, that it was hurting others. When she told him that they were all serial killers except one, he got confused and asked her who. She told him about her sensei and her final test, he became enraged and hit her, knocking her to the ground. He turned his back on her and told her that he thought he might have been falling in love with her, but he didn't know if it was possible anymore, then walked away. Believing that he was leaving her at last, Toshi jumped up and ran at him, grabbing him and knocking him to the ground. She kissed him gently, then got up and apologized for everything and disappeared. After that, Toshi began to make a living as an assassin and thief. L began to investigate her, not realizing who she was but suspicious, although Toshi knew who he was. She approached him, a different woman at the age of nineteen, more mature. She gave him one of her aliases, Kagerou, and said she knew "Senjo", the assassin he was hunting. She was known as Senjo, or Fairy, because of glitter that was always left on the victim, letting the police know who she was, even though the manner in which each victim died was different. L ended up arresting a different young woman who was obsessed with Senjo and was willing to go to jail for "him". L, though was suspicious of Kagerou and did some research on her. He found out that Kagerou was actually Shinigami Toshiko, the worlds fourth best detective, and that she was a top assassin that used the aliases "Senjo", "Hotaru" and "Kagerou". Unfortunately, Toshi had already disappeared again before he was able to find out if it was true.


	2. Prologue

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DEATH NOTE NOR DO I OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. HOWEVER I DO OWN SHINIGAMI TOSHIKO.

Prologue

The tapping of the keyboard continued incessantly, not stopping for at least half an hour. My patience was wearing thin, very thin. 'Come on, Toshi, keep up the act... don't let him know who you are. Don't snap, girl, just don't snap.' I closed my eyes and clenched my knees with my hands, sitting in my characteristic position, knees drawn close to my chest..

"Tomou-sama. Are you almost finished?" I asked, my voice strained with annoyance. The man jumped.

"Oh! Yes, Senjo-sama, just a few more words," the man yelped.

I sighed and put my head in my hand. 'Why do these people have to be such idiots most of the time?'

"Finished!" Tomou finally said handing me a sheet of paper still warm from the printer.

"It's about time," I muttered. I took the piece of paper and read it over. 'What the hell? This is stupid easy stuff!' "Tomou-sama. You underestimate me."

"You think you can kill him?"

"Uh, yeah. I know the guy personally, and have never liked him. He annoys me to no end."'At least I'm getting paid to kill him now.'

"So what's the deal, then, Senjo-sama?" the man asked hesitantly.

"Well, we agreed on 14 000 American. Half now, half later. So, seven grand please." The man jumped again, and I grinned. "Sorry to be so forward, but a job is a job, so unless you want me to take all your money, you'll hand over the briefcase with seven thousand dollars in it." The man nodded and placed on the table in front of me. "I'll need the code, Tomou-sama."

"Oh! 739 276," he stuttered.

"Thanks." I put in the code and went to open it.

"Your not opening that in here, are you?" Tomou asked me, suddenly horribly frightened.

"Why not? I need to make sure that it's real money."

"But why here?"

"Why not?"

"I...I..."

"If it's a bomb, we're both dead. If it's not a bomb, but fake money, your dead. If it's not a bomb and it's real money, your fine. So really, you shouldn't have anything to worry about, right?"

"R-right." I smiled and shook my head, opening the brief case. I delicately picked up a single twenty dollar bill and held it up to the light. My smile turned to a grin as I lowered my eyes to Tomou, who in turn cringed.

"Hn... Interesting. I thought you would have had more balls than that, Tomou-sama. Fortunately for you, you've proven that you have more brains than balls. I'm surprised. Hope that I don't find any fakes by our next meeting." Tomou nodded his head vigorously. I looked at him and snapped the briefcase shut. "Until later then." I stood up and grabbed the briefcase. "It's a pity that your friend has already beaten you to the punchline." I whipped a kunai at him and it pierced the man in his jugular. I muttered, "Idiot." at the stunned expression on his face and walked out after sprinkling glitter on his corpse.


	3. Meeting the Team

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DEATH NOTE NOR DO I OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. HOWEVER I DO OWN SHINIGAMI TOSHIKO.

I walked down the road, brushing past people, not really caring about the last three people that I had been asked to kill. I got the money I needed for a little while and was content. I closed my eyes and shoved my hands in my pockets. I opened my eyes to see a familiar face looking at me, almost as if in shock. 'L.' I felt my heart flutter. I steeled myself and walked up to him and another young man. I pretended that I was going to walk past him, but was stopped by his voice.

"Shini-chan?" he said surprised. I stopped and looked at him, as if confused. "Ryuga Hideki. Remember?"

"Ryuga-san?" I stared at him, taking in his characteristic slouch, black eye bags and disheveled appearance, then grinned and shook my head. "You'll never change, Ryuga-san." I walked up to him and hugged him gingerly. As always, L hugged me as if I was something delicate. "I missed you," I whispered in his ear.

"Then you should have come back," he whispered back. I pulled away and looked into his eyes.

"You know I couldn't." I looked at the young man who was staring at me like I wasn't human. "Ryuga-san? Who's this?" L looked at the teen.

"Yagami Raito-kun. Yagami-kun, this is an old friend of mine, Shinigami Kagerou," L said, introducing us. I bowed to Raito and looked at him carefully. 'Obvious genius, but somehow too perfect and probably hiding something. Something of value, I'm guessing. I wonder if he knows who this "Ryuga Hideki" is.'

"Pleased to meet you, Shinigami-san," Raito said. I noticed he winced when he said 'Shinigami'.

"And I you, Yagami-san. You winced when you said Shinigami. Is there a reason?"

"I just find it odd that your name would literally mean 'God of Death.'"

"Oh? Yours is 'God of Night' isn't it?" I smirked. "I would find it odder if they actually existed." I watched the boy very carefully. I noticed the slight squint in his eyes, and furrowed my brows. 'Hm... Does he actually believe that Death Gods exist?' I saw a black limousine pull up and grinned, seeing Watari in the drivers seat.

"Shini-chan, come with me please," L said quietly. I looked at him, wondering his motives then shrugged.

"Sure," I answered. I turned to Raito. "See ya later, Yagami-san." I smiled with lidded eyes and turned from him. I bowed to Watari and grinned as I climbed into the limousine. L sat next to me, both of us sitting the same, with our knees drawn up to out chests. I looked at him, but couldn't suppress a quiet chuckle. "I was right, L, you'll never change."

"Unlike you, who changes every minute."

"That will never change." I closed my eyes and hugged my knees to my chest. "So why did you want me to come with you, L?"

"Your a criminal. I'm a detective."

"I'm a detective as well, L. Or did you forget that we studied together for six years?"

"I didn't forget. Nor can I totally forgive."

"Oh? Forgive what?"

"Lying to me about Senjo."

"She wanted to be Senjo. She was in love with the idea of Senjo because Senjo liberated her from an abusive husband. I can't change that."

"You killed her husband?"

"No. He killed himself after dousing himself with glitter. The main difference was his was just normal sparkles. Senjo's glitter is made of glass, not metallic paper."

"And you would definitely know." He sighed, and my heart felt like it was being squeezed. "So not only did you lie to me, you lied to that woman."

"No I didn't. I just didn't tell her the whole truth."

"Something you've always been good at." My grip around my legs tightened as I felt my already low patience level dip a few more inches. 'Stay calm, dammit!'

"Are you that mad at me?" I whispered this, as I suddenly had lost my voice. I felt as if because of what I had become, I had lost the one person who might have actually cared about me. I had never been good at acting in front of just L, so I just didn't bother. L was the only person that I could be the real me in front of as long as it was just him. Other wise, my entire life was an act. He didn't answer me, and I suppressed the tears that wanted to pour out of my eyes.

"Toshi," I heard him say. "Look at me." I opened my eyes and looked at him warily, noticing my body tensing. "I'm not mad at you. Just disappointed." I pulled away from him, the hurt in my eyes mirrored in his. I felt my heart start to fracture and closed my eyes, turning my head so my hair shielded my face from his gaze.

"I think I'd prefer mad," I muttered, a few tears escaping from my tightly closed eyes. "At... At least I can deal with anger." I buried my face in my knees. "I-I'm sorry, L..."

"Why?"

"For everything." I reached for the handle. L grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to him.

"L!"

"I'm not letting you leave again. I lost you when you were twelve, then again at 17, and again at 19. You're not leaving."

"Why not? When we were kids, you didn't seem to want me around."

"You grew on me. Don't you remember what I said to you?" He pushed me away from him slightly and made me look at him in the eyes.

_"Toshi-chan. Can I ask you something?" L asked me._

_"What is it L-san?" I answered, my heart fluttering._

_"Why have you been acting so odd? You've been looking like your in pain for a while, and acting like nothing is real. What's wrong?"_

_I stared at him in shock. "I... I..." I looked down, unable to look into his dark eyes. "If I don't act like everything is a play and not actually real, something in me will break. I know it. So everything is just a play and no one has actually died, right?"_

_"What are you talking about? What's just a play?"_

_"Life. It's just a play and has nothing at all to do with the afterlife." I looked at him, trying to will him into believing what I was saying._

_"Are you mad? Even if there is an afterlife, everything you do in this life has an effect on what happens."_

_My eyes widened. "So... I've actually been killing people?"_

_"You can't be that naïve. Don't you know that that's wrong? That it's been hurting other people?"_

_"But they were all criminals! All of them!"_

_"All of them?"_

_"Well..." I looked away again. "All but one."_

_"All but one?" L seemed confused, yet I somehow knew that it was an act on his part._

_"Do... Do you remember the martial arts teacher that was killed five years ago?" L stared at me, shocked. I was the only one besides Watari that he ever allowed to see his more human side, the side that felt fear and confusion. I saw the pain and anger appear in his eyes._

_"That was you?" L's voice was laced with anger and disappointment. All I could do was nod._

_"It was my final test. The one that said that I passed everything. That I was his best student."_

_"You killed him." I looked at L, tears stinging my eyes. I saw his hand pull back and he slapped me, knocking me to the ground. He turned his back on me. "I thought that I might be falling in love with you, Toshiko. I don't know if that's possible anymore." He started to walk away from me._

_"L..." 'He's leaving me. He won't turn back and help me any more.' "L." 'I've got to stop him!' "L!" I forced myself to my feet and ran to him, grabbing his arms and pushing him to the ground with me on top of him. I stared into his eyes and then kissed him, gently, hesitantly, expecting him to throw me off of him. When he didn't respond at all, I pulled back and stood up, turning from him to hide my tears. "L. I'm sorry. For everything." I ran from him._

_"Toshiko!"_

"Yes... I do..." I murmured, coming back to myself and pulling away from L completely. "I remember it all too well."

"Do you regret what you did?"

"Should I?"

L looked at me then looked out the window. "Only if it's not what you wanted to to do at the time." I studied him inconspicuously. 'Why do I care about this man so much? I mean... According to the social norms, I should automatically be more attracted to someone like Yagami-kun. Of course, when have I ever bowed to a social norm...' I looked away and stared at the seat in front of me. 'This sucks.' I felt the limousine slow to a stop and my body instantly tensed totally and completely. L stepped out and offered me his hand. I took it gently and stepped out of the limo in front of a hotel. I looked at the hotel with distaste then noticed that L hadn't let go of my hand. I glanced at him and tugged my hand out of his, always careful. He looked at me then walked towards the hotel. I followed, not knowing what else to do. I ended up following him all the way to his room. He gestured for me to go in first. I looked at him warily then entered.

"Why are you scared of me?" he asked once he had come in and closed the door. I spun and stared at him.

"You've always frightened me in one way or another, L," I answered evenly. "And anyway. I wouldn't put it past you to try something."

"I wouldn't succeed unless you didn't fight back. And knowing you, you would fight back to survive." He studied me, challenging me to prove him wrong. I looked at him levelly, then smirked.

"You're right. I would fight back. I'm not the sort of person to just allow someone to kill me." I composed myself and looked around the room and sighed. 'Typical L... he has sweets everywhere...' I watched him walk over to the coffee table and grab a candy.

"Want some?"

"Sure."

"Something else that'll never change between the two of us eh?"

"Nope. I still like candy."

"And I'm guessing chips?" I glared at him.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Sodium isn't that good for you."

"Neither is sugar."

"Touché. That's why my brain uses up most of the calories that I ingest." I laughed. I saw him pull his socks off, and looked at him questionably. "Comfort. Socks are itchy." I nodded. I heard a knock on the door and immediately hid myself, pulling out a kunai. "Come in." I stared at L.

"Are you ser--" I was cut off when I saw the men walk into the room. I pulled back into my hiding spot as they all greeted L as "Ryuuzaki." 'What the hell? L what are you doing?' L walked over to me and pulled me out of my hiding spot.

"They're working with me on the Kira case," he assured me.

"So why am I here then?"

"I want you to help us with it. Your as good if not better than me at reading people and their motives. Will you help?"

"What do I get out of it?" L just looked at me. "Fine... yeah, if they'll accept me as a detective."

"Good. Call me Ryuuzaki for my safety. And they will accept you because you'll be working with me."

"Ego much?" L just shrugged and introduced me to the group of men in the room. Chief Yagami Soichiro, Ukita Hirokazu, Mogi Kanzo, Aizawa Shuichi, and Matsuda Touta all seemed extremely shocked by my appearance.

"Gentlemen, this is an old acquaintance of mine, Shinigami Toshiko," I heard L say as he climbed onto a chair. I stood behind him, putting my kunai away. "She will be helping us solve the case. Please call her Kagerou for her own safety."

"Shinigami Toshiko? Aren't you the fourth best detective in the world?" Matsuda blurted out.

"Yes," I kept my voice level, if not slightly cold.

"That is so cool!" he squealed.

"Matsuda-sama. You sound worse than an obsessed fan girl. Please stop," I looked at him in such a way that I knew he knew that I really didn't care about his life. Matsuda dropped his head in defeat.

"Kagerou is also the world renowned assassin Senjo and the world renowned assassin Hotaru."

"She's Senjo _and_ Hotaru?" Matsuda blurted out again.

"I thought Senjo was behind bars already because of you, Ryuuzaki-san," Chief Yagami pointed out.

"She chose it," I said coldly. "The woman believed that Senjo killed her husband and wouldn't believe me when I told her that I hadn't. She didn't even believe that I was Senjo."

"Hmm..." I ignored them and walked over to the window, thinking. They were continuing to discuss the _modus operandi _of Kira. 'Somethings not right with how these criminals are dying and it's obvious that L suspects Yagami Raito, other wise he wouldn't have called me Kagerou.' A light bulb suddenly flashed in my head.

"Yagami-san. Your son is Yagami Raito, correct?" I asked him. L looked at me.

"Yes. Do you know him?"

"I met him a little earlier. Ryuuzaki, Raito-kun could be an important asset to this investigation. Yagami-san, with your and your sons permission, I would like to involve him in what we're doing."

"You've always had a gift with telepathy of a sort, Kagerou," L said. "I was going to ask Yagami-san the same thing." We both looked at the Chief.

"If it is what he wants, I can't stop him." I grinned and turn back to the window, shutting them out of my mind again. I closed my eyes and started to listen to what they were saying.

"Just one small slip up, and we'll have him. I mean, he's only human, right?" Ukita said.

"We have to assume that he's only human," L answered.

"Are you implying that he might not be?" Aizawa asked. L said nothing. I turned and saw that L was looking at me.

"Because we as humans aren't totally positive that there are no higher powers," I replied, "and Kira seems to have an odd power that allows him to kill from a long distance by heart attack implies that Kira could be a god. Of course, it is possible that Kira is just somebody that has a death god's favor."

"Do you believe that the death gods are real, Kagerou-sama?" Chief Yagami asked skeptically.

"There's no proof that they don't exist, Yagami-san, only scientific logic says that they can't. I personally don't care if they do or not. They have no impact on me as far as I know."

"Oh." I looked at L just as he got a phone call.

"Come right on up, Watari." He looked back at me, as I smiled gently.

"Ryuuzaki, do you have any chips?" He smiled slightly and nodded pointing behind him. I grinned. "Thanks, love," I said, watching everyone else's reactions. They all had basically the same shocked expressions on their faces. Deciding to shock all of them, even L, as I walked past him, I leaned down and kissed L on the cheek. A very amusing awkward silence filled the room. It lasted about two minutes before Matsuda started to freak out as Watari walked into the room. I just leaned against the counter, giggling and munching on potato chips.

"She kissed you? What the hell? Is there something else going on here? Is there an ulterior motive to why you want Kagerou-san here, Ryuuzaki-san? I'm so confused..." Matsuda collapsed into his chair, defeated when no one answered his questions. I was almost rolling on the floor laughing. I forced myself to stand up straight and walked over to L, leaning against his chair.

"Matsuda-san. Relax. Yes, Kagerou-chan just kissed him on the cheek. No, nothing else is going on and knowing Ryuuzaki-kun, there is an ulterior motive to his actions, but I honestly don't know. When Ryuuzaki-kun snaps out of his shock, don't expect an answer. And also, this goes for everyone, expect to be confused most of the time while working with Ryuuzaki-kun and Kagerou-chan. Okay?" I forced a big smile onto my face. They all nodded. "Good." I turned to Watari. "Hey, Watari. Long time no see, eh?"

"Toshiko?" Watari said, amazed. "But, when did you get here?"

"Ryuuzaki saw me and called me over. Didn't you see me get into the limo earlier?"

"That was you?"

"Uhm, yeah... Who else would I be if Ryuuzaki was allowing me in?"

"That is a good point. Will you be helping with the case?"

"Yeah."

"Good. I'm glad. I got the cake and the chips you asked for, Ryuuzaki."

"Thank you. For tonight, everyone go home to your families and relax. We'll start again tomorrow with fresh eyes."

"Okay..." The men all stood and bowed to L then one after another filed out. Matsuda bowed to me as well, before running out. Soon it was just L, Watari and I. Watari walked up to me and hugged me before taking his leave, leaving me and L alone.

"So..." I attempted at a conversation, suddenly feeling very nervous. L looked at me, keeping silent. I chose to do the same. After a couple minutes, I turned away and walked over and characteristically sat on the couch, knowing that L's eyes followed me. I grabbed my bag of chips and snacked on them, keeping as quiet as I could.

"I don't remember you being this quiet, Toshi," L said, walking over to me.

"Neither do I..." I muttered.

"Are you scared of me?"

"You already asked me that. Yes, I am."

"So why are you still here?"

"Because you brought me here." I looked into his coal black eyes. 'We're the exact same, yet we're polar opposites. Is that why I care about this man?'

"What are you thinking about, Toshi?" I looked away, turning my head slightly. "Toshiko." I forced my self to look at him. "What are you thinking about?"

"We're the exact same, and yet we're polar opposites. Why do I care about you so much?" I closed my eyes. "Just because I've been near you for one day, my emotions, hormones, and moods have gone from heartless, to over emotional, to indifferent, to shit disturber, to what ever it is I'm feeling right now."

"You care about me?" L asked, confused.

"And being near me, you continue to get confused. Of course I care about you, L. I always have."

"Thats why you disappeared?"

"I was mentally disturbed."

"And now your not?"

"Not as much. I've always been mentally unstable. I'm just so good at acting, that no one has ever noticed." I smiled bitterly. "No one except you and Watari has ever even cared. That's probably why..."

"Why you care about me?"

"Yes." I stood up, brushing lightly past him and walked over to the window. I looked at my reflection, then out at the city lights. I heard a slight shuffle behind me then felt arms wrap around my waist, startling me. "What the...?" I looked over my shoulder and saw L on his knees behind me looking up at my face. "L..." He buried his face into the small of my back and tightened his grip on me. I forced his arms to loosen enough for me to turn and kneel in front of him, my hands gripping his shoulders. Neither of us said anything, just looked at each other. I felt the fractures in my heart start to grow and looked away from him, letting go of his shoulders and placed my hands in fists over my heart, bowing my head, the tears finally breaking through. "Even though..." I whispered brokenly. "Even though I know I care about you... no possibly love you, you don't care about me except to help you with this case."

"That's not it, Tosh. Remember? I said that I might love you back then."

"You said you thought you might love me, but you didn't think it was possible anymore."

"I was wrong." I pushed him away and moved to the other side of the room.

"Don't fuck with me, L! Do you want to see me cry?"

"You already are."

"Because of you! The great L. No one even knows who you actually are, L Lawliet. How can you live this life?"

"In hopes that you'll come back to me."

"Immature, egotistical, lying prick!" I stopped myself from ranting. "I'm sorry, L, but I have to go."

"Toshiko..."

"I'll be back here tomorrow to help with the case." I pulled my shoes on and put my hand on the door.

"Toshi, wait." I didn't move. "Stop apologizing to me. I should apologize for hitting you, for hurting you even though I didn't realize what was going on." I took a deep, shuddering breath. He came over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "Any ways, do you have a place to stay?"

"Not at the moment, but it won't take me very long to--"

"Stay here then. You know how much I actually sleep." I looked at him, feeling my physical fatigue suddenly wearing me down and sighed.

"Fine." I braced myself on the wall and went to remove one sandal, but almost ended up falling face first like a drunk. Fortunately, L caught me and knelt down to remove them for me. "You spoil me."

"I care about you." He pulled me to the bedroom and instructed me to remove my vest and lay down on my stomach.

"L?"

"Just do it, Toshi."

"What are you going to do to me?"

"Do you trust me?"

"What?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Well... Yeah, I guess."

"Then take off the vest and lay on the bed on your stomach."

"Okay..." I did as he asked. Seconds later, I felt him straddling my back. "L?"

"Just relax, okay?" I remained tense. Then I felt his hands kneading my back and I started. "Just relax." His voice was soothing and he continued massaging my back, neck and shoulders. I felt myself nodding. Then he stopped and got off of me, just laying next to me. "I remember when we used to play so hard as kids that we'd often just drop to the ground where ever we were and sleep curled up into each other." I grinned at the memory.

"Yeah... I remember that." I rolled onto my side and curled into a ball, my back to him. Just before my mind went blank, I felt his arm wrap around my waist again and he whispered in my ear, "Good night, Toshi."

Me: uhm, sorry about the ooc-ness of L... please don't flame me because of it, I'll be working with that little issue very soon.


	4. Tennis Match and a Heart Attack

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DEATH NOTE NOR DO I OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. HOWEVER I DO OWN SHINIGAMI TOSHIKO.

"But L, how can you say that? It's obvious that there are no other facts!" Aizawa yelled.

"There has to be something that we're missing. One vital fact that we're not getting," L said patiently. "As I've already told you, Kira is immature and a poor loser and how I know that is because I'm the exact same. Also, based on the fact that to begin with, all the murders were happening at certain time on weekdays, but sky rocketed on weekends tells me that Kira is a student."

"Probably a genius as well," I put in. "Kira strikes me to be the type that would probably be sick of the worlds corruptions, but is the typical, sheltered, genius, top student. Yagami-san, as Ryuuzaki has already told you, your son is a suspect."

"Speaking of Yagami-kun, I have to go to the university right about now. Kagerou, would you please come with me?" L asked.

"May as well. Someone has to make sure you don't lose your head," I answered sarcastically, knowing that L wasn't the type to lose his head over anything. I walked over to the door and went to pull on a sandal.

"Kagerou."

"Yeah?"

"Leave the knives."

"What?"

"Leave the knives."

"But... they're my knives and I need them!"

"Not at To-Oh University."

"But..."

"Leave. The. Knives, Kagerou." I stared at him, then sighed and gave up.

"Okay okay..." I started to remove all the knives from their hiding places in and on and under my clothes. By the time I had removed all the knives from my clothes, Mogi was on his knees and counting each one and putting them in sets. Again, I went to put on my sandals.

"I meant all the knives, Kagerou." I looked at L plaintively, and then removed the knives from my sandals and gloves.

"I'm keeping the knuckles on me."

"Fine..."

"Kagerou-san... How did you manage to conceal 162 knives and 257 throwing stars on yourself?" Mogi asked me in awe.

"Talent."

"Would you like me to sharpen any of them?" Matsuda asked.

"The big ones if you get bored. Don't touch any of the really small ones though. You'll just end up destroying your hand, plus a couple of them might blow up..." I grinned. "Don't worry though. Those are just the ones I keep on my sandals." I pointed at the group of knives. "See ya!" I pulled on my sandals and stood outside of the room, leaning against the wall and listening to what they were discussing.

"Do you think that she really cares about this investigation?" 'Aizawa.'

"Does anyone actually trust her?" 'Ukita.'

"I do." 'Mogi?'

"As do I." 'Yagami? Why do they trust me?'

"If L trusts her and wants her to help us, so do I." 'Matsuda.' I chuckled and shook my head. L came out of the room and walked past me, not really seeing me. I followed, instinctively taking the role of over protective body guard, even though I knew that he didn't need it. I felt like today was going to be a good day and decided to try my best to keep it that way. I also felt like today was going to be exhilarating, so I prepared myself for it, already grinning. 'I might actually have some fun today.'

"Why are you grinning like that, Kagerou?" L asked me.

"I feel like it," I replied, my grin spreading.

"I want to challenge Yagami-kun to something."

"Tennis?" L looked at me sharply. "Does he know that you suspect him?"

"Not yet."

"Does he know your theory about Kira?"

"Perhaps." I laughed harshly.

"That works."

"Why tennis?"

"You were the Junior Tennis champion of England, and Raito-kun was the champion in his junior school years. He gave it up when he went into high school though."

"How do you know this?"

"I have my ways, just like you have yours."

"You just met him yesterday, Toshi."

"So?" We got into the limo and we're on our way to the University.

"You were busy yesterday, and all of this morning. How would you find something like that out?"

"You want me to work with you because I'm good at reading people, right?"

"Yes."

"Yagami Raito-kun is exactly like you, except more accepted by society because he acts human in front of everyone. Of course that's all he's doing."

"Acting?"

"Yeah." 'Kinda like yours truly...' We were silent the rest of the way to the University. When we got there, I just stuck close to L, knowing that he was feeling as if not more uncomfortable as me there. "L, why are we here again?"

"Trying to get to know Yagami-kun," he answered coolly. I glanced at him then nodded. I looked from side to side to see if there was any danger near us, when I spotted Yagami Raito.

"L," I murmured, nudging him then nodding in Raito's direction. He walked over and started up a conversation. When he finally got around to challenging Raito to a tennis match, Raito's attention had become riveted on me. I glared at him, wishing that L hadn't asked me to leave my knives at the hotel.

"Why are you here, Shinigami-san?" he asked me. I looked at him, smirking.

"Ryuga asked me to come," I answered sweetly, fluttering my eyelids facetiously at him. He blushed slightly and looked away.

"Yagami-kun, I would like to challenge you to a tennis match," L put in. Raito started and stared at L. I grinned.

"Uhm... sure, I guess," Raito replied, stumbling over his words. 'Heh... I knew it would catch him off guard.' "I'll just go change into appropriate clothes," Raito said.

"Take your time! We'll be waiting here for you!" I said cheerfully, grinning at him. Raito looked at me strangely, like I wasn't totally human, then turned and left. As soon as he was out of hearing range, I collapsed, laughing.

"Toshi-chan?" L asked me, worried.

"I-I'm fine," I gasped between laughter. "I'm gonna have fun with that kid, L." I forced myself to my feet and continued chuckling, even after Raito came back to us. Raito, it seemed, chose to ignore me.

"I'll admit, Ryuga-san, it surprised me that you challenged me to a tennis match. I'm curious as to why," Raito said.

"It's to get to know you better," L replied. I concentrated on Raito, seeing if I could catch him doing something wrong. 'This kid is good, but he's laying it on too thick, he's too perfect. What is he hiding?' I noticed he flicked his eyes to the side occasionally, as if he was listening to another conversation. 'Is that it? Is the kid schizophrenic? Or is there actually something more?' I watched him do it a few more times. 'Shinigami... God of Death...'

_"Just one small slip up, and we'll have him. I mean, he's only human, right?" Ukita said._

_"We have to assume that he's only human," L answered._

_"Are you implying that he might not be?" Aizawa asked. L said nothing. I turned and saw that L was looking at me._

_"Because we as humans aren't totally positive that there are no higher powers," I replied, "and Kira seems to have an odd power that allows him to kill from a long distance by heart attack implies that Kira could be a god. Of course, it is possible that Kira is just somebody that has a death god's favor."_

_"Do you believe that the death gods are real, Kagerou-sama?" Chief Yagami asked skeptically._

_"There's no proof that they don't exist, Yagami-san, only scientific logic says that they can't. I personally don't care if they do or not. They have no impact on me as far as I know."_

'Maybe they have more impact than I thought...' We arrived at the tennis court. "Ryuga-kun, Yagami-kun, I'll be right over there, watching." I pointed at a spot.

"Okay." They discussed the rules and began to play. Already there was a crowd starting to form. I listened to some of the things said.

"Yagami-san is so _cool_!" a blond girl squealed

"I still think Ryuga-san is way cooler. He even looks cooler!" a darker haired girl replied

"What are you talking about, anyone _sane_ would be head over heals for Yagami-san!" the blond admonished. I looked at the two girls and decided to join their conversation, or at least put an end to it.

"Ryuga-kun is definitely cooler than Yagami-kun. But that could be because Ryuga-kun isn't the typical perfect type. He's more the relaxed genius type." 'Even though he never relaxes.'

"Do you know him?" the dark haired girl asked me.

"Yeah... I grew up with him," I replied.

"Have you ever kissed him?" the blond asked, suddenly interested. I looked at her, and decided to lie.

"No... he's more like a brother than a lover to me." 'Lier, lier, pants on fire. Then again...'

"Oh...Well, _I_ still think that Yagami-san is better than Ryuga-san," said the blond.

"Heh... They're both geniuses, in fact they're both the exact same, except in physical appearance, posture, and life styles."

"How do you know so much about them?"

"Does it really matter?"

"Well, like yeah! What are you, like some detective or something?"

I stared at the girl, then clutched at my heart. "The stupid! It kills!" I cried out, falling backwards, laying spread eagle on the ground, my eyes closed tightly. I opened them and saw a bunch of people leaning over me.

"Is she still alive?" I sat up with my head in my hands.

"If only stupidity were a fatal disease..." I muttered, getting up. "If only..." I looked at the two girls. "I know Ryuga-kun and Yagami-kun personally. Does that answer your question?"

"Uhm... Yes..." they both answered.

"Good." I turned away from them and looked back at the match just in time to see Raito get another one past L.

"Five to four!" the referee called. 'When did they get a ref and a linesman?' I watched what was probably to be the last round with amusement. I hadn't seen L play tennis in a long time. 'Three or was it four years? I can't remember.' The dark haired girl tapped me on the shoulder. I glanced at her.

"Uhm... what sort of person is Ryuga-san?" she asked me shyly. I felt sorry for her. She seemed to be the same as me, except sheltered.

"He's the sort of person that people instinctively listen to, but people never like him for him. Only for his mind. He's a brilliant man, really. A true natural genius and is rarely ever surprised by anything," I paused, reflecting.

"You sound like you really love him," the girl murmured. I looked at her and smiled slightly.

"Yeah... I do..."

"As something more than a brother." I laughed quietly, feeling a quiet mood descending on my heart.

"It's true. He's the only stable thing thats ever been in my life. It's normal that I would think that I'm in love with him. But, it's really only a passing fancy, a school girls crush."

"Oh..."

"Ryuga's the type you either hate or you love. Unfortunately for him, he's easier to hate. If it wasn't for his brilliant mind, he'd be a nobody, like me." I watched L go for the ball, but miss, letting Raito win the game. I stood and glanced at the girl. "It was nice talking to you. See ya!" I smiled and waved at her, walking over to L and Raito.

"Wait! My name is Nao Tsukiko! What's yours?"

"Shinigami Kagerou." I bowed to her, then walked over to L. "Good game, Ryuga, Yagami. Why don't we go get a drink or something?"

"Sure. Yagami-kun, do you know a good café nearby?" L asked.

"Yes. Just let me get changed."

"Okay."

"Shinigami-san!" I turned and saw Nao Tsukiko running over to me.

"Nao-san?" I furrowed my brows slightly. She came up to me and bowed to both of us. I bowed back, but L just looked at her curiously.

"I wanted to give you something, Shinigami-san. Something I do for all of my friends!" I just stared at her.

"What is it?"

"Here!" Tsukiko handed me a small parcel. "Open it!" I did as she asked cautiously. A silver locket on a thick silver chain was cushioned in royal purple silk.

"Nao-san..." I murmured. She pulled out a disposable camera and handed to me. I looked at her curiously.

"Take a picture of you, me and Ryuga-san to put in your locket!" I looked at the camera, then at L, who was staring at the camera like it was going to kill him.

"I don't do cameras, Nao-san," I said quietly.

"Please?"

"Uhm..." Just then, Raito came up to us, and saw the camera.

"Yagami-san! Could you please take a picture of Shinigami-san, Ryuga-san and me?"

"Uhm... sure." Tsukiko pulled me over to L and made me latch arms with him, and she did the same on the other side of him.

"Shinigami-san! Kiss him!" Tsukiko said.

"What?" both L and I yelled. She giggled.

"Just on the cheek..." she said. I got what she was saying and sighed, glancing at L. 'Sorry, L.' Both she and I kissed L on the cheek and Raito took the picture. I pulled away from L. Raito handed it back to Tsukiko, who snapped another picture of me and L, both of us with beat red faces. Then she handed it to me, grinning.

"See ya, Shinigami-san!" she said running towards the school. I just watched her, then put the camera in my pocket. Raito looked at me strangely, then turned his attention to L as we started to walk to the café.

"Your as good as I expected you to be. I lost," L said.

"Thats the first time that I've gotten serious over something in a while, Ryuga. I have a favor to ask of you," Raito replied. I studied both of them, deciding to keep my mouth shut and watch and listen.

"Well, seeing that I lost the game, ask away. But there's one thing I've got to mention first."

"What?"

"I suspect that you may be Kira. If that's not a problem, feel free to ask me anything." Raito stopped walking. Both L and I stopped and looked back at him. Raito laughed

"Me, Kira?"

"Well, when I say 'suspect', it's only about 1 percent. More importantly, I'd like to confirm both that your not Kira, and also the rumors regarding your skills of deduction before asking you to participate in the investigation." L continued walking. I glanced at Raito, before catching up with L. We continued on in silence to the café. Once there, Raito led us to a seat and allowed me to sit before him. I just sat quietly next to L.

"This café is a favorite of mine. If you sit here, people won't be able to overhear your conversations," Raito said, almost proudly.

"Thanks for showing me this place, it's nice," L countered politely. Raito giggled at mine and L's positions.

"You don't need to worry about sitting like that here," he said, pointing.

"I've got to sit like this. If I sit normally, my investigative abilities decrease by about forty percent," replied L, rubbing his lip with his thumb.

"If I sit normally, I can't dodge anything. Anyway, it's comfortable. You should try it sometime," I muttered. L glanced at me, then turned back to Raito.

"So what's this favor you wanted to ask of me?" L asked.

"Oh, I think I'll leave that until after you're confirmed that I'm not Kira," replied Raito, "You can go first. Ask me anything."

"Okay, I don't mean to be rude, but would you mind if I tested your skills of deduction?"

"Yeah, that's fine. Sounds like fun."

"Okay then. Firstly, I'd like you to take a look at these." L pulled some photo's from his back pocket, and laid them on the table. "These three are photo's of letters; it's thought that Kira controlled criminals in a prison, and then, before they died, had them write these." Raito reached for them. "Please let me hear your opinions about them." Raito looked at the photo's.

"Interesting," was all he said at first, then appeared to be studying them. I watched him, a slow, satisfied smile spreading on my face. L just looked at him. "If Kira can truly manipulate not only the death, but also the actions of people prior to death, it would be amazing. In fact, these messages contain hidden messages that seem to be teasing you." Raito spread the pictures on the table. "If you take only the top letters from each sentence and read from left to right it creates another sentence. Arranged in the most natural way, it says 'L, did you know that Death Gods only eat apples?' I guess But there are also photo numbers on the back of these photos. If you place them in that order, it says 'L, did you know that if they only eat apples Death Gods'. This seems rather unnatural, and I find it hard to believe that this is what Kira wanted to say."

"Incorrect," L said quietly. I grinned, bearing my teeth when Raito's jaw dropped. "There is in fact a fourth photo. If you include this, it becomes something like this, 'L, did you you know that if they only eat apples, Death Gods have red hands?'" Raito's eyes darkened, then he straitened.

"But my theory is perfect if there are only three photos," he snapped.

"No, it was incorrect," I muttered, annoyed by his haughty expression.

"There are in fact four. It would have been correct if you had accounted for that," L amended. "Despite the fact that the sentence didn't end, you decided that there were only three photos, and were unable to deduce that there may have been a fourth. That is a fact."

"Yeah... I wasn't able to deduce that much. Either way, they aren't messages that will bring us any closer to Kira." Raito picked up his drink. "It's not like Death Gods really exist."

"Yagami-kun, if you were L and were with someone you suspected may be Kira how would you go about proving it?" L's attention wasn't wavering from Raito no matter what. 'Typical L... straight to the point.' Raito's attention didn't waver either, so I was kept amused, if not a little annoyed at Raito.

"I'd make them say something that hasn't been broad casted to the public; something that only Kira would know." I stared at Raito in mild shock. Raito lowered his cup. "What you're trying to do right now."

"Amazing. I've asked many detectives this question yet most of them need at least a few minutes before they can answer. You, however, were instantaneously able to think as Kira would if they were confronted with someone investigating them." L paused. "Your sense of reasoning is amazing." I sensed his approval of Raito, and felt a pang of quickly suppressed jealousy. Raito smiled a little.

"If my ideas are too good, it seems like you'll get even more suspicious!"

"Yes, by 3 percent." I giggled and Raito, again his jaw dropped. "But at the same time, my desire to have you investigate with us has also grown, even if you are Kira. I'm in a position where it would still benefit me to have you investigate with us. Do you understand this logic?"

"If I help with the investigation, there's a potential for it to move forward. Also, if I'm Kira, I might somehow give myself away. In other words, you can both investigate and interrogate at the same time. I think that's a good idea... but I think that you're misunderstanding something here. It's true that I'm interested in the Kira case and that I also enjoy investigating as a hobby, but I'm not Kira and I don't want to be killed by Kira. Besides, you don't have any proof that you're not Kira! In that case, it'd be strange for only one of us to be investigating the other."

"There's nothing to prove that either of you aren't Kira, just like there's nothing to prove that I'm not Kira, Yagami-kun. And it's more likely that I'd be Kira than L, but I'm not," I said, speaking up, glaring at Raito. "Since this man claims to be L, we can prove that, like we can prove that I am Kagerou, and Senjo and Hotaru!"

"Kagerou..." L cautioned. I glanced at him.

"For example, Yagami-kun, we would get your father or another member of the investigation to identify each of us in front of you," I continued.

"So... Your the rogue assassin for hire." I felt Raito's eyes glare at me, daggers being thrown at me. He turned back to L. "If it's not possible to confirm your identities, then I can't investigate with you."

"I never said anything about not allowing you to meet the people at the Investigative Headquarters."

"Huh?!" Raito looked surprised.

"Currently we're working both with your father and the others at the Investigative Headquarters. So, if I take you to the Investigative Headquarters, I can get you to cooperate with our investigation. Have I understood that correctly?" I watched as a flash of fear glimmered in his eyes, before it was suppressed. Suddenly, L's phone rang. "Excuse me." He answered it.

"Mine, too," said Raito, answering his cell.

"Yes?" L asked before he looked up, startled. "Yagami-kun!"

"Father? A heart attack?!" I jumped up on my chair then flipped over L and the table to stand on the floor, leading the way as we rushed to the hospital, slowing down enough to allow them to keep up. We got there just in time. I chose to stand rather than sit, leaning against a wall, tense for anything. At first we kept conversation light, until Raito's mother decided to leave, knowing that we needed to talk to him.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow and I'll bring some essentials," she said in cheery, but weary voice. "I'll leave the rest up to you, Raito."

"Okay," Raito responded automatically. We heard the door slide shut behind her, and we turned all of our attention to Soichiro. "Are you sure you're just overworked?" he asked his dad worriedly.

"Yeah. When I first went down, I thought that it might be Kira... but it's alright," Soichiro assured. "I've probably been overdoing it recently."

"All the more because you knew that your son was suspected of being Kira," L said. Raito glared at him.

"You even told my father that?!"

"Yes, I've told him everything." I glanced at L.

"I seriously doubt everything, L. You don't even know everything that's in your head," I said.

"True. But I've told him everything that I can concerning this case. Even the fact that I am L." Raito looked to his father for confirmation.

"He's right. He is L. We call him 'Ryuuzaki' so that outsiders don't realize, but without a doubt, he's L." I watched Raito's eyes darken again, and closed my eyes smirking.

"I honestly don't know who else he'd be. I grew up with him, I would know," I said, goading both Raito and L, watching them both.

"Kagerou. Please, for now, be quiet," L said quietly. I grimaced and looked away. "Spoiled child..." I turned back, ready with a quick retort.

"So, Ryuuzaki, have your suspicions about my son lessened now that you've had a chance to talk to him?" Soichiro put in, stopping my comment. 'You'll get it later, L Lawliet.'

"You say 'suspicion', but it was only a minute amount. Let me say it once more. Kira has killed twelve FBI agents that were sent to this country. They were all investigating people connected with the Japanese police force." L looked at Raito, sort of challenging him. "Out of all of them, Raye Penber's death stood out as being suspicious."

Raito sat back in his chair crossing his arms. "And I was one of the ones he was investigating..." He paused and looked at his father. "I guess it can't be helped that I'm a suspect then. It's as Ryuga says, there's no one else to suspect."

"Your reasoning is quite something. It's always fast and precise," L marveled.

"Ryuga, I'll cooperate with the investigation. After all, my father's proved that you're L."

"Totally disregards me," I muttered. They all ignored me.

"I'll catch Kira and prove to you that I'm not--"

"Kira? You're lucky that Ryuuzaki won't let me interrogate you. That will prove that you're not Kira."

"Kagerou..."

"Sorry..."

"Raito. Right now, you should be concentrating on your studies in order to join the police force. You can start investigating after that."

"What are you saying father? Nobody knows how many years that could take. In any case, I've already promised that...if anything happens to you...I'll make sure that Kira is sentenced to death."

'Big words... But... is this an act? I hope not... other wise, I'll make sure that his death is painful. Very painful.'

"Listen up, Raito, Kira is evil. That's the truth. But recently, I've been wondering what's really to blame..." Soichiro paused closing his eyes. "... and it's the power to kill others. Any human that comes across that power will b unhappy. No matter how one uses that power you can never build true happiness on the deaths of others." I saw L glance at me out of the corner of his eye. I lowered my eyes, not wanting to look at him.

"Yagami-san is correct," I said, looking at them all. "If Kira's just an ordinary person that's somehow acquired these powers, they are indeed unfortunate. I could almost sympathize with the poor bastard, if I didn't disagree with what he's doing." Everyone was silent for a few moments.

"Sorry to trouble you like this, Ryuuzaki," Soichiro finally said. "I'll do my best to recover."

"Umm... Visiting hours are now over," a nurse said quietly, standing just to the left of me. I nodded at her, and left the room, followed by L and Raito, who quickly said his good byes to his father. When we got out of the hospital, I heard Raito stop.

"Ryuga? Is there any way that I can prove to you that I'm not Kira?"

"If you aren't Kira, then there's no need for you to do that."

"Come off it! Try thinking about how it feels to be the one accused of being Kira!"

"Please don't yell, Yagami-kun," I said. L looked away, then back at Raito

"I feel awful." I stared at L. 'Did he really just say that?'

"For example, you could lock me up for a month without TV or anything and keep me under supervision."

"No. I wouldn't do something that would infringe on your basic human rights like that." I held back a yelp of laughter. "And most importantly, it would be nonsense for me to accept the suggestion of someone who's a suspect."

Raito's face relaxed. "I see." I climbed into the car, Raito sitting next to me and Watari closed the door.

"It'll be alright," L said, rolling down his window. "If you aren't Kira, I'll find out sooner or later. Plus, having witnessed your interaction with your father today, I thought that you might not be Kira. Please take care of your father." L pulled back from the window.

"O-one last thing," Raito stammered. "I said that I'd cooperate with the investigation, but, until my father gets better, I don't think I can do much."

"I know. Goodbye." The car pulled away from the curb. "Toshi. Is it normal to want to clear your name that much?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"Just answer the question."

"Fine. No, it isn't normal."

"Do you think he's Kira?"

"Using your way of putting things into percentages, 7 percent."

"That high?"

"Yeah." I leaned my head on his shoulder, not caring what he did, but knowing he if he did do something, it wouldn't be much. "Your shoulder is surprisingly comfortable."

"Then you must be tired."

"I suppose. All I've really done is watch you and Raito talk." I remembered the spoiled child comment, and pulled away from him. "And what the hell makes you think that I'm a spoiled child, L?"

"It was just the way you were talking, and acting."

"Kinda like you?"

"Yeah." I rested my head on his shoulder again, closing my eyes.

"I was going to rant, but I can't remember what I was going to say."

"That's a good thing. Go to sleep, okay?"

"Yeah... sure..."


	5. You WHAT? Meeting Miko

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DEATH NOTE NOR DO I OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. HOWEVER I DO OWN SHINIGAMI TOSHIKO.

"Next, about Misora Naomi, isn't it about time that we open up the investigation to the public?" Matsuda asked.

"If we do, we should try to avoid any connections being made to the Kira case," L replied. "Use an artists impression rather than a photo."

"But it's already been four months since she vanished," Ukita said.

"I can only imagine she's already dead," Aizawa said quietly.

"Even if she's dead, it's strange that no one has been able to locate her body yet," L replied. "If we can find it, it may shed some light on this situation." I saw Watari enter the room.

"Ryuuzaki," he said. L turned to him. "Sakura TV. Something terrible is occurring." I grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.

"Basically we're presenting this broadcast as Kira's hostages, but also as reporters fulfilling their duties," the reporter said. "Please understand that we would never air this broadcast with an intent to deceive or with a wish to gain popularity."

"Kira's hostages?" I murmured.

"What's going on?" L muttered.

"Four days ago, the director on duty received these four tapes," the reporter continued. "Without a doubt they have been sent by Kira." They showed an image of a tape. "The first tape contained predictions of the date and times of deaths for two suspects that were recently apprehended. Yesterday, both suspects died at exactly their predicted times of death."

"If that is really true, it's definitely something only Kira can do," I said. L glanced at me then nodded.

"We've received orders from Kira to play this second tape today at exactly 5:59 pm. We've been informed that this will contain a predicted murder as further proof that they are Kira, and also a message to the people of the world." I furrowed my brows. 'A message? Shit!'

"A-Are you sure that this isn't another joke?" Ukita asked L.

"Surely... no one would pull a prank that's this sick," Matsuda said.

"Here it is," the reporter said. A white screen with the word 'Kira' across it appeared on the television.

"_I am Kira_," a distorted voice said. "_If this video is being broad casted at exactly 5:59 pm on the 18__th__ of April, it should now be 5:59 pm and 47... 48...49... Please now change the channel over to Taiyou TV. The main newsreader, Mr. Hibima Kazuhiko, will die of a heart attack at exactly 6 o'clock_" I changed the channel. There, Mr. Hibima Kazuhiko sat in his chair, already dead. I glanced at the clock. '6 o'clock and he's dead.' I changed it back to Sakura TV. "_Mr. Hibima Kazuhiko continued to air his claims that Kira is evil_."

"Bring me another TV," yelled L. "No, make that two!"

"Better make it three," I called out.

The voice continued, "_This is his due. Another sacrifice will have to be made. The target will be someone currently live on NHN TV. A commentator who's been negative about me, Mr. Kobaizumi Seiji._"

"Ryuuzaki!" I yelled.

"Turn to channel 24," he replied. I complied. The man was already dead. The people were already panicking. "Please change it back."

"_I think that, by now, you should all believe that I'm Kira_," said the distorted voice.

"Ryuuzaki! We have to stop the broad cast!" I yelled at him.

"Somebody stop it!" L yelled.

"I'll phone Sakura TV!" Matsuda said, rushing to the phone.

"No good," Aizawa said. "My acquaintance at the station has his phone switched off."

"No matter what part of the station I ring, it's all engaged!" Matsuda yelled, sounding somewhat hopeless. I turned about to leave, but suddenly stopped.

"Screw this..." Ukita said, turning and running out of the hotel room.

"Ukita-san!" Matsuda, Aizawa and I all cried out.

"I'll go to the station in person and make them stop!"

"_Everyone listen carefully_." I turned my attention back to the distorted voice. "_I don't want to have to kill innocent people. I hate evil and love justice. I even regard the police as my ally and not as my enemy_."

"Damn you, Kira," I heard L murmur under his breath. I placed a hand tentatively on his shoulder. He glanced at me, then gripped my hand tightly and let it go.

"_My wish is to create a world without any evil_."

"I'm really starting to hate that distortion of computer technology," I muttered venomously.

"_If you all decide similarly, it should be easy to achieve. If you cease your attempts to capture me, no innocent people will die. Even if you don't agree with me, as long as you don't go to the media or express it publicly, I won't kill you. Please try and wait a while; this world will become something that anyone would appreciate. I will change this filthy world into a world that's built for gentle people. Try and imagine this. The police and I will create a utopia for humanity. Perfect in every way. As I said though, anyone who--_"

"We interrupt this program to bring you live footage from outside the Sakura TV station!" We stared at a smaller TV.

"Ukita-san!" I gasped.

"As you can see, some one has collapsed. Currently, this is the scene occurring outside Sakura TV.

"Ukita-san... Shit!! Was it Kira?!" Matsuda cried.

"Aizawa-san!" L said. "Where do you think you're going?" I turned and looked at Aizawa.

"To Ukita, of course."

"So you can be killed as well?" I asked him quietly.

"You can't." L turned his head slightly, watching Aizawa. "Please compose yourself."

"Are you telling me to just shut it and watch TV?!" I closed my eyes and sighed at his words.

"If this is Kira's work, and you go there, the same thing will only happen to you, Aizawa-san," I replied, keeping my voice quiet.

"If Kira doesn't have a name, they shouldn't be able to kill! So why has this happened? Were the fake Ids of no use?"

"Maybe Kira already knew our names?" Matsuda asked.

"That's a possibility," L replied. "But if Kira did know that surely it would have been a lot easier for them to kill us first. According to my theory Kira needs a name and a face but having watched this, it seems that the probability of Kira being able to kill someone solely by knowing their face isn't zero. Right now, the only think I can say is that Kira is inside the station, or at least somewhere where they can monitor the people entering--"

"If you think that Kira's around the area, there's even more of a reason to go!" Aizawa interrupted.

"There's always the possibility that they set up surveillance cameras," L replied.

"If you go now, you'll only suffer the same cruel fate as Ukita-san," I said, glancing at L. "As long as he's remembered by us as a brave person, for now, that will be enough."

"You didn't even know him!"

"But I understand why he did that. I would've done the same if he hadn't. Even though I know it was foolish, I still would have done it."

"She's right," L said. "She would've." Aizawa stormed over to L and grabbed his shoulder. I tensed.

"You!" Aizawa snapped. "I thought that you were risking your life to catch Kira!"

"Risking your life and allowing someone to easily take it are two completely different things."

"What?!" Aizawa noticed L clenching his leg and that L was shaking.

"Just try and hold back." L's voice was strained. "Now that Ukita-san has been killed, if you were to lose your life too..." Aizawa pulled back and stared at L in wonder.

"_To the police, please decide whether you will co-operate with me in creating the new world, and announce your answer of 'yes' or 'no' in four days' time, during the 6 o'clock news on the 22__nd__ of April. I have prepared videos for both 'yes' and 'no' responses._"

A vehicle crashed through the front doors of Sakura TV. "It's a patrol van! A patrol vans charged into Sakura TV!"

"Well that's a good way to hide your identity..." I said, chuckling.

"But who is it?" Matsuda asked.

"Finally a single police car has arrived at the scene!"

"That reporter is irritating," I muttered.

"So we're not the only ones..." Matsuda said. "There are still others in the force that want to stand up and fight!"

"Aizawa-san," L said. "You know the cell phone number of Deputy Chief Kitamura, right?"

"Uh, yes..." Aizawa dialed the number and L took the phone.

"This is L. I'd like to ask a favor of you. Upon seeing this broadcast, people connected with the police will act, driven by their own sense of personal justice. I'd like you to control this directly from the top or this could turn into a disaster." Both of the police men suddenly collapsed. I felt my entire body tense even more. 'I really want to find this bastard and beat some sense into her. Wait... her?' Suddenly Watari's phone rang. I turned to him.

"It's chief Yagami," he said.

"Call him back and hand me the phone," L answered. He paused for a second. "It's me. Yagami-san, so it was you in the patrol van." He paused again. "Are you alright?" To me, it sounded like a son asking his father and it almost brought tears to my eyes. Another pause. "Please wait a minute." He switched phones. "Deputy Kitamura, Chief Yagami was the one who charged into the station. How are your preparations proceeding?" Pause and switched phones again. "Yagami-san, please leave openly through the front entrance in five minutes." He hung up both phones and handed them back to their respective owners. "Watari. Go down and escort Yagami-san to the room." Watari nodded and left. We all waited. About twenty minutes later, Watari helped the Chief into the room.

"Chief!" both Matsuda and Aizawa cried when they saw him.

"Ryuuzaki, I apologize for acting on impulse. It seems I got a little too emotional." I walked over to him, and gave him a small kiss on his cheek.

"Yagami-san, there is no need to apologize. You did what you felt was the right thing to do. Don't regret it. You probably saved many officers lives. I think we should be thanking you, not forgiving you. Any way, your only human and it was an emotional situation." I helped him to the couch.

"All the envelopes and tapes sent by Kira are in here," Soichiro said, handing me a bag. I bowed to him then handed the bag gingerly to L.

"Speaking of Kira. I don't believe that was the Kira," I said, throwing my thoughts out of my head. L started looking through the contents of the bag. "I think that we might have another Kira on our hands."

"Aizawa-san, can I ask you to analyze these?" L said, seemingly ignoring me.

"I think I can do that..." Aizawa replied.

"Please do. I'll confirm the contents of the copied tapes."

"Oh.. whatever... Does any one want coffee?" I asked. Everyone nodded vigorously. I nodded then went to the kitchen. I found the ground coffee beans and started to make a fresh pot of coffee. L came in behind me.

"You mentioned something about there being another Kira."

"Your point?"

"And you kissed Yagami-san on the cheek."

"Again, your point?" I didn't even try to look at him.

"And your really tense."

"You slouch."

"What?"

"I thought we were having a state the obvious contest. I figured I may as well put in my two cents."

"Whats wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"Just answer the question."

"You never answered mine." L sighed. I clenched my fists.

"My point was I was trying to figure something out. So answer my question.

"Nothings wrong." I heard my voice break.

"Lier."

"Your really one to talk, L."

"I know. So whats wrong."

"..." I bit back a sob, and prevented my self from running to him, and bawling on his chest. "Nothing important, so go back to work."

"Your my friend. If your upset, I want to know why."

"Dammit L! It doesn't matter!" I heard footsteps then felt L grab my shoulders and spin me around. I looked away from him, holding back tears. "L. Let go of me."

"No. Not until you tell me whats wrong." I closed my eyes. "Look at me." I turned my head in rebellion. "Goddammit, Toshiko, your acting like a child. Now look at me."

"And what do you expect to see? What do you expect me to see?" I snapped, looking at him, my eyes flashing with anger. I saw it mirrored in his eyes. I saw me mirrored in his eyes.

"I expected to see my best friend. And I expected you to see some one who actually cares about you. But you're too blind--"

"Stop." I allowed some tears to fall and I looked down. "I don't need to hear about how blind I am, L. Not from you. You, who doesn't know what it's like to see and not believe. You, who has never physically killed someone or seen someone die at your feet. You, who doesn't even actually know me because you don't care enough! Don't tell me I'm blind, L, when you can't even see how much I care--" L cut me off with his lips. My eyes widened. 'Wait... What the fuck is going on?' I felt more tears cascade down my face. But I couldn't respond to his kiss. My mind and body froze. L pulled away and looked into my eyes. He didn't say anything, just kissed my forehead then my nose and left the kitchen. I collapsed to the floor and buried my head in my hands, sobbing. Watari entered and knelt, hugging me.

"He does actually love you, Toshi. You just have to believe here" he patted my head "and here." He placed his hand on my chest, above my heart.

"But does he know how I feel about him, Watari?"

"That is something even I don't know. Neither of you were ever very open with your feelings. Only he knows what he knows and the rest of us can only speculate. Except you, you who has an uncanny way of knowing what he's thinking no matter the situation."

"Only because we think alike, Watari." I stood up, helping Watari up at the same time. "Your not as young as you were, Watari. And you can't keep coddling me like a child." I heard the timer on the coffee pot go off. I walked over to it and rested my hands on the counter.

"I know I'm not as young as I was. But I will continue to coddle you like a child until you stop behaving like one around L. I still coddle him. He hates it, but at the same time he loves it and has come to terms with it. You will either have to grow up, or learn to accept it because you are both my children."

"What would you have done if I had managed to kill my self when I was fifteen?"

"Mourned for my and L's loss in a beautiful young, but confused woman. That is all I could have done."

"Does L know about that?"

"Did you tell him?"

"No."

"Then he doesn't know. But, if you love him, you'll tell him." I nodded, clenching my fists. "Come. They are waiting for their coffee."

"Right." We brought the coffee, fresh cups, cakes and chips into the living room. It was strangely quiet and, but I lifted my head proudly, not caring that I had just had an emotional breakdown in the kitchen. I was calmer now, so what did it matter. I noticed that it was starting to get light out and glanced at L.

"How is it, Ryuuzaki?" I asked him handing him a cake and coffee. The others came up behind me.

"It was an interesting video. If the police agree to cooperate with Kira, there are orders to broad cast video three. If they refuse, video four is to played. On video three there are detailed conditions regarding the cooperation. In a nutshell, it's to report information on more criminals. Even if they've committed less serious crimes there are instructions to pick out those who harm others and those that abuse the weak and vulnerable. Kira will then decide whether to pass judgment on them or not. In addition as proof that the police are willing to cooperate, they order both L and a senior member of the police to appear on TV and announce 'We will cooperate with Kira'. By exposing the faces of myself and a senior policeman they would be able to kill us should the police attempt anything funny."

"What about the contents of the fourth video, if we answer 'no'?" Soichiro asked.

"It's more or less the same thing but said in a different way. The answer's bound to be 'no', Yagami-san, please authorize Sakura TV to play tape four." L grabbed the remote and turned on the television.

"_I think it's a great shame that you've chosen to answer 'no'. Since this reply indicates that the police will persistently fight against me, I will have to take the life of the Chief of the Japanese Police Force, or alternatively the life of the person directing this investigation, known as L_."

"The chief or L?" Matsuda said in awe.

"_Which one of you will pay the price for deciding not to help me create a peaceful world? Please decide within four days_."

"This is total bullshit," I snapped. "That isn't even the real Kira!"

"What do you mean, Kagerou-san?" Soichiro asked, looking at me expectantly.

"Let's think about this. For one, why would Kira wait this long to openly confront the police. Two, Kira has never taken hostages before or killed completely innocent people. Three, the mannerisms that this Kira has and the level of which she has stooped completely degrades the real Kira. She's probably just some girl that is obsessed with the idea of Kira. Maybe he saved her life or something ridiculous like that."

"Why do you say 'girl'?" L asked me.

"Huh?"

"You said 'she'. How do you know that this new Kira is female?"

"Womans intuition."

"So. Saying that this is a totally new and different Kira, who doesn't need a name to kill, we still don't know how."

"Why don't we get Yagami Raito to send a broad cast back to this new Kira, see if we get a reply. She'll probably slip up and we'll find out it's some celebrity. Get hair or something that still has the follicle."

"We'll find out when we find out right?"

"Yeah..."

"Go get some sleep, Kagerou. You look like you need some."

"I hate to sleep on the job."

"Just go. You could be vitally important when you wake up."

"Fine." I walked over to L and kissed the top of his head before whispering, "Good night... er morning." I giggled then walked past the group of gaping men into the bedroom. 'I wonder if they think that I'm crazy yet... I want to talk to Raito alone. Being female, I might be able to figure something out that L wouldn't. Then again, maybe I'm just too much of an idiot to figure any thing out. Unless I'm right about there being two Kira's... that would be cool. I should see if I can find him at that university... but this time, I'm bringing the knives.' I lied down on the bed. 'I honestly wonder if he knows...' I closed my eyes. When I next opened them, I was screaming, and clutching L.

"Toshi, are you okay?" he asked me quietly, holding me close to him.

"I need you to promise me something, L," I whispered.

"What is it?"

"I need you to promise me you'll try not to get killed."

"I'll try. I promise you I'll try."

"Thank you." I took a deep breath then disengaged myself from him, putting on a calm, cool, collected demeanor. "I have some things I need to do today. I'll be back later."

"I need to tell you something first." I glanced at him. "They want me to go."

"What? So that bitch can kill you?"

"Yes. But we still have three days to take counter measures and think an idea to avoid it."

"Yagami-kun."

"What?"

"Get him to send out a broadcast as Kira to this second Kira."

"Maybe. His father no longer has any objections to him being part of the investigation."

"Okay. I'll be back later, okay?"

"Yagami-kun should be here in a few minutes, are you sure you don't want to wait?"

"No. I have to go meet someone."

"I want someone to be with you at all times. You're too unstable." I choked on my laughter. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine. If you demand that someone is with me, then I'll go with Watari if you can spare him. Otherwise no one."

"I can spare him." L looked at me oddly. "Who's your friend? Someone I might know?"

"Miki? Hokkaido Mikio?" I saw the distaste flash in his eyes.

"Oh... him. Why do you have to go see him?"

"He might have some information for me."

"Maybe I should go with you."

"You have important work to do. Stay. Watari will be with me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to change into something different for my own sake."

"Oh, um sure."

"Thank you, Ryuuzaki," I cooed, kissing his cheek, then shooing him out of the room. 'Clothes...' I searched through the drawers, but didn't see anything that looked even half normal for me to wear. Then I heard a knock. I walked over and opened the door. L handed me a bag. "What?"

"Try these on." A slight blush crossed his face.

"Uh, okay." I closed the door and opened the bag. A black short-sleeved dress with a short, full-circle, ruffled skirt, fishnet gloves and red pumps with a ribbon for the ankles. 'Cute. I'll try it on.' I undressed then pulled on the dress. 'Wow... this fits me good. When the hell did he get it?' Next I pulled on the pumps and laced them up and then finally the gloves. I glanced at the mirror in the bathroom, seeing my reflection. 'Damn... I look good. Thank you L.' I fitted a few of my knives in certain places where I was sure I could reach them, loosened my hair, then walked out of the room, feeling a sort of perverse satisfaction at the expression on each man's face. Especially L's. "Well, Ryuuzaki, this is a side that I never knew about you. You're a bit of a pervert." I laughed then waved to them. "See you all later, boys! Have fun!" I walked out of the room and saw Watari and Raito. Raito stared at me, surprised. "Watari! I need you to take me to meet an acquaintance of mine. L's suggestion."

"Of course. He already notified me. Yagami-kun, you may go in," Watari replied. I grinned at Raito and winked, walking past him.

"Kagerou!" I turned. L stood at the door. He walked over to me and hugged me. "Please be careful. I need you to make that promise to me as well."

"I promise to try and not get killed." I pulled away from him and walked away. "Watari! Shall we?"

"Yes, let's go." We walked to the car. Watari opened the back door for me, so I bowed and gracefully slid into the seat. I sat in my normal position, suddenly a little annoyed at the dress, but at the same time, not really caring.

"Watari? Can you please put on the radio?"

"What station?"

"One with music." He did so. The first song I heard was that song by Celine Dion that was played on Titanic. "How depressingly familiar."

"Would you like me to change the station?"

"No. It's fine." I listened to it quietly, reminiscing on past experiences.

_"Toshiko! Stop fighting all the time!" Watari said to me._

_"Why should I? I'll just end up getting hurt!" I yelled back._

_"Toshi, I challenge you." I spun around and stared at L. 'But what if I hurt him? No. A challenge is a challenge. I can't let my stupid feelings get in the way of who and what I am.'_

_"You challenge me?" I smirked. "Fine. When?"_

_"Now if you like."_

_"Good."_

I chuckled. 'I was really hot headed at that time. I wanted to nothing but fight. Now that I think about it, I never did beat L. I think I might challenge him when I get home.' I looked out of the window. "Watari. Stop here please." Watari pulled over to the curb and I stepped out of the car. "You can come with me if you wish to be annoyed by a crazy eccentric, but it's your choice."

"L wants me to go with you."

"As you wish." I turned from him and started walking away. The road we were on was completely deserted and to my left was a park. "Miki! MIKI!" I called.

"Did the pretty Shini-chan call?" I heard the odd, somewhat insane voice say from above me.

"Miki, get down here before you fall out of that tree," I scolded him.

He giggled. "As my diva commands!" The agile man flipped out of his perch and landed catlike in front of me. He stood up with a slightly crazy grin on his pale face. His silver eyes glinted from behind his platinum hair. As always, his silver tiara was on his head and his nails were painted black.

"Your tiara's slipping, Miki."

"Oh, sank you."

"I have a favor to ask of you."

"You didn't say it yet..." he sulked. I groaned.

"Miki. Your a grown man. Act like it dammit, before I beat it into you. Although, you'd enjoy that too much wouldn't you."

"That's close enough! What is this favor?"

"Find the home of Yagami Raito, get into his room, bug it and tape it, but make sure nothing, and I mean nothing is different. Check for anything that deals with entering his room as only you can. Every detail, and don't make a single mistake. Watch his room for five days, then we'll meet here again, okay?"

"That could be slightly difficult, but for you, anything in this world! For a price."

"What is it this time."

"A little kiss?"

"When?"

"When ever your ready, my beauty."

"That could be never, but okay. We'll talk in five days time then. See ya!" I turned from him and walked back towards Watari. "That was mildly annoying. Watari?"

"Yes?"

"I think L needs some time away from the case. What do you think?"

"What are you planning?"

"A dinner out, maybe. To a bakery or something."

"That might be good for him. I'll convince him to go with you."

"Thank you." We drove back to the hotel. I walked in to the room and leaned on the armrest of L's chair, grabbing a slice of cake. "How's it going?"

"He's watching the videos."

"Hmm..."

"Ryuuzaki. You should take the night off," Watari said.

"I have too much work to do to take the night off."

"I'm not suggesting it, I'm telling you to. Both you and Kagerou go somewhere and relax."

"Like a date?"

"If thats how you'd like to describe it, then yes."

"I see. Sorry but I don't have time to take--"

"Just do it." I glanced at Soichiro. "It'll be good for you, Ryuuzaki." 'That would have convinced me...'

"Fine. In a couple hours we'll go."

"Fine. In the mean time, I need to go for a walk by myself," I said standing up straight.

"I'll come with you!" Matsuda said.

"I said by myself. Thank you anyways, Matsuda-san."

"I think it would be better if you stayed here. I want you to hear what Yagami-kun has to say about those videos," L said, stopping me. I glanced at him.

"Sure." I turned to the figure of Raito and walked over to him, leaning on the armrest. "Well, Raito-kun, have you been able to deduce anything from these videos?" I asked him sweetly. He looked at me, and I smiled when his eyes squinted.

"There's a possibility that there's more than one person who has Kira's power," Raito said, glaring at L.

"K-Kira's power? What are you saying, Raito?" Soichiro said, amazed.

"If nothing else, there's a high probability that this is not the same Kira that we've been dealing with until now. The Kira we've been dealing with until now would not have utilized the suspects used in this advanced broadcast. Add the fact that if Kira does indeed need a name and a face to kill, it's strange that they were able to kill the policemen who merely happened to go to the TV station."

"I-It's the same..." Aizawa blurted.

"The same as L and To... I mean that's exactly the same theory as Ryuuzaki and Kagerou!" I glared at Matsuda. 'That was way too close.'

"That's right, Raito-kun. We also believe that there's a second Kira," L said.

"You already knew, Ryuga? I mean 'Ryuuzaki'. You were testing me, weren't you?"

"I wasn't testing you," L replied. "If Kagerou was the only one to have come up with the 'second Kira' theory, people may have had trouble believing her. Since you've come to the same conclusion as she did, it's become a much more convincing viewpoint."

"Raito-kun, you really are extremely helpful. So, is it decided, Ryuuzaki?" I said.

"It's decided. Firstly, we have to stop the second Kira. Evidently they sympathize with Kira, but they aren't very intelligent."

"Downright idiotic. She seems like a fan girlish celebrity or something."

"'She'?"

"Don't ask." I smiled slightly, then continued. "The second Kira, being foolish, she might even obey the real Kira. Thus, there's a good chance that we might be able to stop her by sending her a message from the real Kira."

"I'd have expected nothing less from you, Ryuuzaki. I was also thinking of that as the best course of action. I'll admit I'm surprised that she's the one coming up with the ideas," Raito said.

"Contrary to popular belief, usually women come up with the better ideas, Raito-kun," I said bitter sweetly. "I just usually keep my mouth shut, unless I know something is a cold hard fact." 'I hope that these four days disappear quickly. I want those tapes from Miki.'

"Kagerou, calm down. I'd like you, Raito-kun, to play the real Kira."

"M-Me?!"

"Yes. With your talent it shouldn't be a problem. Anyhow, we don't have a lot of time. Can you write a response from 'Kira' ready to be aired on this evening's news?"

"Yeah. I can."

"Good. In the mean time, Kagerou and I will go out for a while. We'll be back in--"

"Don't bother with a time, L. Let's just go." L looked at me in surprise then shrugged and pulled some shoes on to his feet. "Lets walk." L nodded and I waved to the others and walked out the door.

"Watari, watch them for me." L caught up to me. "Was this your idea?"

"Yeah. I needed to discuss some things with you, and tell you the reason I went to see Miki."

"Go ahead."

"He lays the perfection too thick."

"Raito?"

"Yes." We walked out of the hotel and onto the streets. I felt L grab my hand and looked down in surprise. "He's acting and I think he might have a mental problem. Kira has a narcissistic personality disorder, a god complex and megalomania. I can probably prove that Raito-kun has the same."

"Knowing you, you could. I remember when you had me convinced that I was a megalomaniac. Even though, I'm not."

"No, your not. It was just something that was amusing for me." I grinned at him.

"It was cruel."

"So were you. Anyway. I went to Miki to hire him for what he does best."

"Being a creep?"

"Pretty much. He also has a way of being able to get into any room for any reason extremely easily. I asked him to bug and watch Raito's room, and follow him without being noticed. Because I know that you've already done this, Raito-kun shouldn't notice. Also, Miki is just that sort of person who will do anything for me."

"For a price."

"A kiss... Same price every time... And I always pay him. Miki really is harmless. He's just a little off."

"More than a little."

"Heh. Something else that I should talk to you about. Something only Watari, the doctor involved and I should know."

"What is it?"

"Remember when I disappeared for two months when I was fifteen?"

"Yes."

"That was my fault. I was in the hospital." L stopped, clenching my hand. I turned to him.

"Why?" He looked at me, searching my eyes, my face.

"I attempted suicide." I looked at him, defiance and sorrow written on my face. L tightened his grip on my hand, then pulled me into him, hugging me tightly in the middle of the sidewalk. I wrapped my arms around his neck, his arms around my waist, his face buried in the crook of my neck. I closed my eyes as his he tightened his grip around me. Then he pushed me away, his hands on my shoulders. I dropped my arms, and looked at him. His eyes were questioning.

"Why?"

"I can't remember. It disappeared along with other things from my memory while I was in the hospital."

"Is that why you were on medication for a little while?"

"Why I was supposed to be on medication. I never actually took any." I pulled out of his grasp and continued walking. He caught up to me and grabbed my hand again. We continued in silence. I instinctively knew that many people were staring at us.

"SHINI-CHAN!" I heard someone yell, before pushing L to the side. Mikio fell to the ground.

"What do you want, Miki?" I growled, not happy that I had to see him twice in one day. Miki jumped up, and gave me a sweeping bow.

"Just something I want you to see," Miki said with a flourish.

"Does it have to be now?"

"I think you'll want it now." I glared at him.

"What is it?" Miki pulled out a black notebook and handed it to me. I looked at the cover then opened it. "Death Note, eh?" I turned back to L. "Go to the Silver Hawk Bakery. I'll catch up to you in minute, okay?"

"Why?"

"I know how much you like dealing with Miki. I can feel the annoyance seeping out of you." L looked at me questioningly. "I'll explain when I get there okay? Just let me deal with Mikio." L nodded and turned away. I went to turn back to Miki, but L grabbed me and kissed me hard, full on the lips the let go and walked away. I shook my head and turned back to Miki. "Sorry. Now, about this note book. Just what is it?"

"A Death Note."

"Miki."

"It's a shinigami's notebook. It could just be a prank, but does Yagami-kun seem like the prank type?"

"No..." I opened the book and flipped through it, skimming through the pages of names, ticking off all the ones that I noticed as criminals that had died. I stopped on one page and smirked. "Shinigami Kagerou. Cause of death heart attack scheduled for tomorrow. That's it? How pathetically inconceivable." I remembered the look of shock when he saw me earlier that morning. "But it does make perfect sense." I ripped out a piece of paper, folded it, placed it in my purse and handed the book back to Mikio. "Copy every thing in this book then put it back please. And if you see anything strange, call me on this number." I handed him a card with my cell number on it.

"Spiffy. Do I get my payment yet?" I sighed.

"Fine." I gently kissed him on the lips then pulled away and nodded. "See you in a few days. I want the tapes and the copies, okay?"

"Just for you, my dear." He bowed and walked away, hiding the notebook. 'I really hope I'm not right.' I walked to the bakery and walked in, immediately being bombarded with the intoxicating smells of fresh bread, cake, pie and other sweet delights. I saw L and walked over to him, forcing myself to sit somewhat properly, ended up sitting on one leg. L had already gotten coffee for the two of us.

"I hope we don't get attacked..." I muttered. L chuckled.

"You worry to much. Come, lets get some cake." I grinned and nodded.

"Better make it... cheesecake." We laughed. "With strawberries."

"Why not strawberry cheesecake?"

"Even better!" L got up and got two slices of strawberry cheesecake. I stopped smiling and looked down. 'Shinigami Kagerou is to die tomorrow. But the rule was the real name wasn't it?' A piece of cake was set down in front of me, and L climbed into his chair.

"Whats wrong?" he asked me.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. Just annoyed that I had to see that flamboyant freak twice in one day. Some days he does his work too well."

"That's why you always go back to him for help?"

"Not always... Just sometimes. He's useful. Also he has a heart of gold, always willing to help. I do consider him a friend at times. He knows almost as much about me as you do. He's also a really good drinking partner..." I blushed slightly and picked up my coffee sipping it. L forced a smile onto his face and nodded. "Nothing happened between us!"

"Sure..."

"L don't sulk, besides, even if something had happened, why do you care?"

"You know why."

"I do?"

"Yeah."

"Well obviously I don't know that I know why you care." L looked at me.

"Think about it. Think about what has happened over the past few days."

"Lets see. We had an argument, you've randomly kissed me twice, you gave me a brand new dress and shoes... You're jealous of Miko..."

"What does that tell you?"

"That you have a crush." I looked down, placing my coffee back on the table. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. I'm just creating more stress for you. Maybe I should disappear until the case is finished."

"No." L reached across the table and grabbed my hand, grasping it tightly. "I'm not letting you disappear from my life again."

"Why not?"

"Because I love you, dammit. I'm not letting you go." I stared at him. "Even if I have to handcuff us together. I'm not letting go." His grip tightened.

"L..." I closed my eyes and bowed my head allowing the tears that had been building up for years start to fall. I pulled my hand out of his grasp and stood up, walking towards him. I pulled some money out of my purse and placed it on the table, then grabbed L. I silently walked out of the bakery, keeping my grip on his hand. I found an alley and pulled him into it. I stopped, and let go of his hand. "Say it again where I can actually here you properly." He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"I love you and I'm never going to let you go." I turned around and kissed him gently. He kissed me back, pulling me closer to him. I snaked my arms around his neck, deepening the kiss.

Eheh... Sorry for the late update... school and such... Any way, that's it for now... I have no idea what's going to happen. Well, I do, but you know, I can't exactly tell you.


	6. VERY IMPORTANT PLEASE READ

Well, I hate to do this to my lovely readers, but due to recent unfortunate events, you will all have to wait much longer than you already have for the next instalment. Please, forgive me. I'll try to have everything back up and running in no time. If school and such allows, of course.


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